Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 319: Listen and Learn -- Negligence: Duties of Landlords, Owners, and Possessors of Land
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 149: Listen and Learn -- Negligence: Duties of Landlords, Owners, and Possessors of Land
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 122: Listen and Learn -- Easements (Real Property)
Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
Let’s assume you own 105 acres in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In 2020, you signed an oil and gas lease with ABC Exploration. During the negotiations, you agreed that only those post-production costs which actually...more
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Marcellus Shale play, one issue remains constant: the ongoing debate over the deduction of post-production costs. Landowners all across Pennsylvania have spent countless hours...more
Let’s assume you own a 135 acre farm in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. In 2020, you negotiate a new oil and gas lease with XYZ Drilling Company. During the negotiations, you insist on a cost free, no deduction royalty of 17%. ...more
On September 6, 2024, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied dueling summary judgment motions concerning the interpretation of a royalty provision in Chambers v. Equinor USA Onshore...more
Fasken Ranch Ltd et al v. Puig et al featured a reservation in the sale of a ranch of an undivided 1/16 non-participating royalty interest “free of cost forever.” What does that mean? In particular, does it mean that the...more
In its May 22, 2024 non-precedential memorandum decision in Frye v. Penn View Exploration, Inc., 919 WDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Ct. May 22, 2024), the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that an oil and gas lease’s shut-in royalty...more
The calculation of production royalties and the deduction of post-production costs remains a troubling issue for Pennsylvania landowners. But there is another frustrating and often confusing royalty-related issue which can,...more
Let’s assume you own 95 acres in Greene County, Pennsylvania. In 2019, you signed an oil and gas lease with ABC Exploration. During the negotiations, you agreed that only those post-production costs which actually...more
Let’s assume you own a 160-acre farm in Washington County. Your father purchased the farm in 1992 from a local farmer named Jones. (the “1992 Deed”). At the time your father purchased the farm, there was an oil and gas lease...more
Before signing oil and gas leases, landowners should pay close attention to lease provisions asking for warranties and representations about prior oil and gas development on the land. These provisions are often buried in a...more
Let’s assume your grandfather owned 99 acres in Washington County. In 1955, he sells a small portion of the farm to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in order to facilitate the construction of new State Route 39. This acreage...more
The calculation of production royalties and the deduction of post-production costs remains a controversial topic here in Pennsylvania. As we have written before, there is another frustrating and often confusing...more
Let’s assume you own 185 acres in Washington County. In 2020, you negotiate a new oil and gas lease with ABC Drilling. During the negotiations, you insist on a “gross royalty” which prohibits the deduction of post-production...more
On February 15, 2023, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of PennEnergy Resources, LLC in the Dressler Family, LP v. PennEnergy Resources, LLC matter. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s review of this...more
As we have written about before, a troubling issue facing landowners in the Marcellus Shale region is the practice of retroactive pooling and unitization. Retroactive pooling and unitization occurs when a driller records an...more
The question in Brooke-Willbanks v. Flatland Mineral Fund LP, et al was which party to a Texas mineral deed would bear the burden of two previously reserved nonparticipating royalty interests....more
There is no way to avoid it. It seems like everything costs more now than it did last week, last month and last year. Energy is one area with very sensitive prices. You have likely experienced the significant changes in...more
Many Pennsylvania landowners have leases with “market enhancement” royalty clauses. These clauses typically prohibit the deduction of any post-production costs that are incurred transforming the gas into marketable form. Once...more
Deducting fuel costs from landowner royalties continues to be an ongoing and widespread practice. Not only are landowners denied a royalty on the fuel gas volume, but they are also having that same “cost” deducted from their...more
Zehentbauer Family Land, LP v. TotalEnergies E&P USA, Inc. is a story we’ve heard before: Royalty owners contend they are not getting a big enough slice of the hydrocarbon pie, which presents a question courts must answer:...more
Louisiana’s compulsory pooling scheme seeks to balance the interests of individual landowners and oil and gas operators to promote responsible development of natural resources. Because of compulsory pooling, operators are not...more
Most bills filed in each legislative session fail. For the most part we are thankful for that. But today we summarize a few that survived while you weren’t paying attention. ...more
On Feb. 3, 2017, the Supreme Court of Texas held that adjacent landowners were not mandatory parties to a lessor’s suit against the lessee for failure to make royalty payments if the adjacent landowners had not claimed any...more
In a closely watched and long-awaited case with potentially sweeping industry-wide consequences, the Supreme Court of Ohio refused to adopt a default rule regarding deduction of postproduction costs from landowner royalties...more
Post-production costs deducted from gas royalties, such as interstate transportation charges and marketing costs, must be incurred while a producer still holds title to the gas....more